Water-gage.



H. S. BONESTEEL.

WATER GAGE.

APPLwATloN FILED SEPT. 26,1911.

Patented Oct. 1, 1912.

fm; wall/gli atteint HORACE S. BONESTEEL; 0F GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN.

WATER-GAGE.

A Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 1, 1912.

Application tiled! September 26, 1911. Serial N o. 651,887.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Hormon S. BoNmsTEEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Green Bay, in the county of Brown and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and vuseful Improvements Water- Gages, of which the following is a specilication.

The general object of the invention is to eliminate the employment of glass tubes for determining thel height of the liquid column in a steam oiler or other liquid holding receptacle and to this end the invention consists in a liquid gage consisting of coacting magnetic elements controlled by the rise and fall ot' the liquid column of the boiler or receptacle to indicate the height of the said liquid column.

Other objects will appear and be better understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of one embodiment of the invention applied to a steam boiler. Fig. Q is a vertical longitudinal section of the same. Fig` 3 isa detail cross section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail perspective of the float with the magnet attachedthereto.

The employment of glass tubes for water gages of steam boilers has been attendant lwith serious drawbacks. These tubes, while providing admirable devices for observing the height of the water column, are nevertheless the cause of many accidents to operatives and of no small amount of annoyance, .owing to their fran ible -nature and consequent liability to breaii especially when suddenly expanded by heat or when arranged soas to be exposed to Contact with extraneous objects or heavy mists or rains that may be blown into the space around the end or other portion of the boiler to which the tube is connected.

The foregoing defects in the employment of glass tubes have led me to conclude that the same would be obviated if metal or some other substance less frangible than glass were employed in lieu thereof. The chief draw-back to a metallic tube, however, is its opacity but I have discovered, however, that if means were associated with the tube and arranged to coact and controlled by the rise and fall of the liquid column that the same result would be obtained as is now had with .the employment of glass tubes provided that.

, would positively operate with the rise and fall of the liquid column and be observable froma'distance as great it not greater than the line of demarcation between the steam and liquid column in the ordinary gageglass.

In the drawin s'I have shown a convenient apparatus or etlecting the foregoing result wherein 5 indicates a container for the ,liquid column 6. The container 5 is of non-magnetic material such as brass and maybe a boiler or other liquid holding res ervoir or as shown'in the drawings, it may be the equivalent of the ordinary gage glass and connected to the boiler 7 by means of coupling sleeves 8 which screw on to and connect nipples `9 and 10 extending from the steam and water spaces respectively of the boiler with nipples 11, 11 extending from the opposite end portions of the container 5. i

12 indicates a cap removably secured to one end of the -container and held against accidental displacement in any preferred manner such as by screw threads 13 formed ou the inner face of the cap and on the container 5.

14 indicates a float which 1slides freely in t-he container and is actuated "to do so bythe rise and fall of the liquid column 6. The float may be of any preferred construction such as a hollow cylinder, and formed of any suitable material such as aluminium.

15 indicates a permanent magnet suitably secured to the upper end of the float such as by a strap 1G which embraces the magnet and has its opposite ends secured to the upper end of the float. The object of making the magnet 15hollow is to reduce the weight thereof to a minimum. As the magnet 15 is cylindrical the contact between it and the guides 17 is reduced to a minimum, and it is impossible for it to' so engage `the guides as to prevent the movement of the float in either direction. The length of the` magnet is a trifle less than the diameter of the container 5 and has one end arranged between vertical guides 17 which extend longitudinally of the inner surface of the container and` serve to prevent turning of the'magnet and the ioat but permit the end portion of the magnet to slide therebetween. The magnet 15 will, of course, be formed of that material which combines the greatest amount of magnetic efliciency with a minimum of weight. In practice I have found that good .of preserving its magnetism for a longer period than tungsten steel and therefore I intend to reserve the right to employ any magnetic substance found suitable for the purpose herein described, whether said sub` stance is known at present or will .be discovered in the future.

1S indicates a. series of overbalanced vhands or plates extending longitudinally oi the container 5 and adapted to be actuated successively by the magnet 15 asthe latter rises and falls in the container under the action of the liquid column t3` The elements 18 are of magnetic material such as steel and are by preference oblong in contour and are normally in vertical alinement with each other so that as the magnet moves in the container as before described, these elements are successively attracted or turned to assume a horizontal position, the highest horizontal element in the series indicating the position of the magnet in the container and consequently the approximate height of the liquid column (3, it being understood that when the magnet'is secured to the float vthe upper end of the-latter will be ffush or approximately so with the water level in the container.

The elements 18 may be connected to the container in any preferred manner and are herein shown as'connected to a vertical rod 19 the opposite end portions of which are pierced and arranged between perforatedV lugs :20, at the opposite end portions of the container so as to be secured by pins 21 which are adapted to pass through the lugs and the opposite end portions of the rod 19.

By providing the container with the removable cap 12 the float and the magnet at` tached thereto may be readily withdrawn whenever it is desired to replace an old or l weak magnet with' a new and strong one.

lVhat I claim as new 1s: 1. In a water gage for steam boilers, the

.combination of a container of non-magnetic metal having integral vertical guides formed on the inner surface and extending longitudinally thereof adapted to be connected to the steam and water spaces of the boiler, a float in the container, a magnet strapped t0 the upper end of the float and havingv one end arranged between the said vertical guides to prevent turning of the magnet and the float.

Q .In a water gage for Steam boilers,.the

ranged between the said vertical guides to prevent turning of the magnet `and the float.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HORACE S. BONESTEEL. \Vitnesses:

HENRY HnLonRsoN, Guo. MARCHAND. 

